Stolen Laptop - Horizon Blue Cross/Blue Shield of NJ

To:  C&T Local Presidents

Greetings:

CWA has been advised that a laptop computer was stolen from an employee of Horizon Blue Cross/Blue Shield of NJ on 1/5/08.  According to the Labor Notice the Union received on 2/12/08, the laptop was password protected and, to the best of their knowledge, no participant data was "compromised."  The Labor Notice went on to say that the data on the laptop was destroyed on 1/23/08 due to a security feature contained on the laptop.  We were told that the laptop did contain personal information, including the name, SSN, and address of 353 AT&T participants.  And, although Horizon has no evidence that the information was obtained from the laptop, they are offering impacted participants free credit monitoring for one year. 

While CWA is now aware that 353 participants were impacted by this theft, the Company could not tell us how many of the 353 participants were CWA-represented active and/or retired employees.  A letter advising impacted participants that a "data security breach" impacts them was mailed on January 28.  The letter also extends an invitation to participants for the complimentary 12-month membership in ConsumerInfo.com, and Experian Company to provide one year of credit monitoring.  The security breach impacts only participants covered under the Horizon Blue Cross/Blue Shield of NJ Medical Plan.

If you have any additional concerns and/or questions, please don't hesitate to contact me.  I can be reached by phone at (202) 434-1291 and via e-mail at mflagge@cwa-union.org.

In Unity,

Martha Flagge
CWA Representative

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